Mig-29 - Take-off Magazine

Another Russian spacecraft went to the
International Space Station on 10 October.
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle hauling the
Soyuz TMA-11 blasted off the 1st Launch
Pad at Baikonur at 17.22 hours Moscow
time, with the spacecraft docking to the
Zarya functional cargo unit of the Russian
segment of the ISS two days later. The
16th main expedition comprising Russian
cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA
astronaut Peggy Whitson as well as the first
Malaysian angkasawan Sheikh Muszafar
Shukor arriving under the 13th expedition
programme (angkasawan is the derivative of
the Malay word ‘angkasa’ – outer space).
The three have long space-related careers.
Malenchenko first went to orbit in 1994,
having worked 126 days at the Mir space
station. He flew again in September 2000 as
part of the STS-106 mission on board the
Atlantis space shuttle under the programme
of preparing the ISS for the arrival of the first
permanent crew. Third time Malenchenko
came to the orbit in April 2003 as crew
commander of the 7th main expedition. While
in orbit, Malenchenko got married, with his
marriage of Russian-American Yekaterina
Dmitiryeva being effected in absentia (under
the law of Texas, the bride was present at the
Mission Control Centre in Houston during
the marriage ceremony). This was the first
ever in-orbit marriage in history of space
exploration.
This flight was not the first one to Peggy
Whitson. She spent six months at the ISS as
the first researcher astronaut in 2002, having
conducted 21 experiments in the fields of
microgravity and medicine. However, this
time around, she has much greater authority,
having become the first female ISS crew
commander. During the six month stint,
she will have a crew of two men under her
command, one of whom is Malenchenko
and the slot of second flight engineer is to
be occupied by alternating personnel. Until
late October, it had been occupied by NASA
astronaut Clayton Anderson, who came to
the ISS as part of the STS-117 mission on
the Endeavor shuttle in August this year. The
STS-120 mission’s Discovery brought on 25
October US astronaut Daniel Tani to replace
Anderson. Tani will have stayed at the ISS
until December when he will be replaced
by ESA astronaut Leopold Eyarts, who is
to come on the Atlantis shuttle (STS-122).
Finally, US astronaut Garret Reisman will
replace Eyarts in February 2008, coming on
board the STS-123 mission’s Endeavor.
The ISS-16 crew led by Whitson will
pursue a complex and rich programme. With
the arrival of the Discovery to the ISS, a new
construction phase began – the shuttle, also
commanded by a female NASA astronaut,
Pamela Melroy, brought the second module,
Node 2, into orbit. The first one, dubbed
Unity, has been part of the ISS since
1998. Node 2 made in Italy will link three
lab modules – the US Destiny, the EC’s
Columbus and Japan’s Kibo. Columbus will
be brought to the ISS in December while Kibo
cosmonautics | mission
in early 2008. This will beef up the capabilities
of the ISS, allowing its crew to increase from
three to six. The Whitson-led crew also will
receive two Progress cargo craft and the first
EC freighter, the ATV Jules Verne, which
launch is slated for January 2008. As usual,
the main expedition’s programme provides
for several dozen experiments.
The third member of the Soyuz TMA-11’s
crew, Malaysian Shukor, went to outer space
for the first time, but his space epic has
gone down to history of Malaysia. Mulling
over sending a man into outer space began
in Malaysia as far back as the late 1980s
in response to a proposal from the Soviet
government. However, only in 2002 did
Malaysia’s National Space Agency sate that
it was ready to meet all relevant requirements.
A space flight of a Malaysian was specifically
stipulated in the major package agreement
between the two countries (under the
agreement, Malaysia procures an almost $1
billion worth of Su-30MKM fighters and
send a Malaysian national to outer space).
Soon after clinching the deal, the Malaysian
Space Agency started accepting applications
from volunteers eager to become the first
angkasawan. Applications were accepted via
the Internet, with anybody above 21 having
the right to apply. In the end, out of 11,000
applicants, about 3,700, who met the age
and education requirements, were selected,
of whom subsequent additional tests and
medicals left only four, including a female.
The four were further reduced to two –
Sheikh Muszafar Shukor, who, in the end,
went to the ISS with the short-duration crew.
His backup was Faiz Bin Halid.
35-year-old Shukor is an orthopaedic
surgeon. He teaches medicine in Kebangsaan
University. During his 10-day space flight, he
conducted a series of experiments, including
those aimed at researching cancer cells,
proteins and microbes as well as an experiment
official dubbed Malaysian Cuisine in Outer
Space. Truth be told, there was not much
food in question (the pack of nine Malaysian
national dishes cooked to Islamic standards
(halal) weighed 550 g, but the angkasawan
managed to treat his comrades-in-orbit right
after the end of Ramadan. By the way, since
Shukor also was the first Muslim to be in
outer space during Ramadan, the Malaysian
ulema had devised for him the world’s first
Muslim cosmonaut memo that allowed him
to pray in accordance with special rules.
Shukor’s space flight inspired Malaysia
so much that the country’s vice-premier
arrived in Russia to greet the angkasawan
upon his return from orbit and, at the same
time, talk with the Russians about having
the other Malaysian cosmonaut, Faiz Bin
Halid, fly to the ISS. The initiative came as
www.take-off.ru take-off november 2007
43